Here on Alderney we have St Anne’s bells, a truly lovely peal of 12. With a tenor of 13cwt they are light enough for our inexperienced band and heavy enough to be interesting to experts … but what we lacked was a teaching facility for children.

To catch them before they get really serious about cricket/football/ballet/tennis 🙂

We approached Matthew Higby and he advised installing a 2 ½ cwt peal of 8 in a purpose built extension to our garage. The bells handle easily (but ‘properly’) but most importantly they are marvellous for our novices as the combination of light weight and a low ceiling makes handling a dream.

Visiting ringers from Elizabeth College, Guernsey join two Alderney ringers to try out ‘Wells Bells’.

Matthew’s bell hanging skills are such that they are a very rewarding peal for experts too – 3 peals since installation last autumn!  The best news is our 10yr old novice has just achieved Level 1 ART – a feat impossible at St Anne’s.
With Wells Bells at the heart, in addition we have installed a Higby simulator, kitchen & toilet facilities; The Channel Islands’ Ringing Centre is born.